Devin Williams stood at the Rock the Earth booth in City Park on Sunday, signing up music lovers to help save the planet.

Under the table of brochures, Williams had stashed a bag filled with his personal items. It sported green letters on black cloth that read: “Get Hip, Get Green.”

“That pretty much sums it up,” Williams said. “Being green is hip.”

Sunday’s Green Apple Festival was a party in the park — where even plastic straws and cups were made from corn and fully compostable. It was one of eight such pre-Earth Day events from San Francisco to New York over the weekend.

Earth Day has been around since 1970, when it started as an “environmental teach-in.” And as a national day of observance, it has had its ups and downs as concern over the planet’s health waxed and waned.

But this year, worry about global warming has made Earth Day hot.

Massive gatherings are planned in Tokyo, Beijing and Buenos Aires, Argentina. More than 1 billion people are expected to mark the event in some way.

Tuesday has emerged as the symbolic high point of a growing movement that has affected nearly every area of human behavior in the past few years — from the way we feed, clothe and shelter our families to the way our country conducts itself in international affairs. Eco-chic products are proliferating, and so now is a backlash against “greenwashing” — misleading claims about a corporation’s social responsibility.

The cause: a spate of news stories that convinced earthlings that their house was not in order.

“Hurricane Katrina can’t be ascribed to climate change, but it was in the popular imagination, partly because environmentalists were very good at using it as a potent symbol of human activities that come back to bite us,” said Tom Yulsman of the Center for Environmental Journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

When former Vice President Al Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary on global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth,” came out the following year, images of hurricane clouds appeared in the film’s posters.

“He used Hurricane Katrina, which at that point was in the public mind as a potent symbol,” Yulsman said.

Then came news of droughts, crumbling glaciers and a February 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change blaming humans for the problems.

And now, record gas and food prices are shaking up people even more.

“The issue of sustainability has been in the background for a while, but it didn’t rise very high on the list of people’s concerns,” Yulsman said. “But now, that’s started to change.”

Rock-star status

These days, the environment boasts rock-star status, becoming so popular that some say it’s trendy.

At the park Sunday, Williams said he doesn’t care why people are going green.

“I’m not concerned that people are doing it because it’s cool, because it’s a way to get them in the door,” he said. “I’ve seen a new resurgence in the level of environmental activism here, an increase in awareness, especially because of global warming.”

Helping the cause are eco-bloggers who leverage new technologies such as social-networking websites.

One of the power players is MySpace, which last year launched the new “Our Planet,” a hub of environmental tips, news and even a widget that counts down the minutes to Earth Day. Members can download it to their cellphones.

The site added more than 5,000 members in just eight days this month, for a total of nearly 175,000 “friends.”

Young people’s concerns

For Earth Day this year, MySpace will black out its home page to dramatize the need to save energy. It’s also partnered with the Green Apple Festival to stream events of the day.

“The concern among many young people, whether we’re dealing with the war in Iraq or national-security issues, foreign oil, pollution or trade issues, is that somehow it all relates to the environment,” says Lee Brenner, executive producer of political programming for MySpace.

It’s a movement that is vastly different from the first Earth Day in 1970. Back then, green products were hardly stylish.

Now, there’s a thriving green economy, fueled by 200 million Americans buying eco-friendly products. Joel Makower monitors the scene from his position as executive editor of Greener World Media, which produces sites such as GreenBiz.com.

“Kinko’s, Toyota, Office Depot, General Electric — not to mention Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Sears,” he says. “All of a sudden, we have quality products available at competitive prices through mainstream retailers. It’s gone from the margins to the market.”

Six months ago, New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins created Mothership Wit Organic Wheat Beer, its first organic brew.

The proliferation of choices for green lifestyles boggles the minds of even some experts.

“There are a lot of claims being made, but how do you as a consumer know what is the right thing to do?” Yulsman asked. “Hey, it’s confusing to me, and I’m pretty knowledgable.”

The problem of greenwashing is significant enough that the Federal Trade Commission is reworking its environmental marketing guides a year ahead of schedule.

“We’re seeing an explosion both in the number of green claims and the kind of green claims being made,” said James Kohm of the FTC’s enforcement division.

Wide range of new issues

There’s also new terminology that didn’t exist a decade ago, when the green guides were last updated.

“Terms like carbon offsets and renewable energies,” Kohm said. “Another popular term that’s not in the green guides: sustainability. What does that really mean?”

The impact, he says, is vast.

“There are energy-market issues, packaging issues, issues in green building and green textiles and green seals,” he said. “It’s so ubiquitous and covers such a huge swath of the marketplace. You’re trying to get a handle on everything and give some really good guidance.”

This new social landscape also includes a better breed of watchdogs.

“They’re in the blogsophere and social media and all that,” Makower said. “They’re much better at playing bad cop than good cop, especially when it comes to big companies.”

One example: Greenwashing Index (greenwashingindex.com), launched this year by EnviroMedia Social Marketing — the first interactive online forum for consumers to evaluate green claims.

Peering into coming decades, green-collar workers like Makower see a fork in the road: “We’ve come to a point where we can start to see two futures. One is frightening with consequences that are unimaginable. The other has potential that we have not yet imagined.”

Online eco-resources

This is the eco-lovers’ website. An independent site for environmental journalism.EarthDay.net

Created by the organizers of the first Earth Day, Earth Day Network lists specific actions you can take, plus the latest stories and a youth action center. This site reaches more than 17,000 organizations in 174 countries.GreenerWorldMedia.com

A resource on business and the environment, targeted at helping companies combine environmental responsibility with business success. Includes links to GreenBiz.com, GreenerBuildings, ClimateBiz, GreenerComputing, GreenerDesign, plus the report “State of Green Business 2008.”

Earth Day Events

ONGOING

Jeffco offers program for kids: Kids ages 6 and up can participate in “Earth Transformed,” a 90-minute program between now and May 13 at each Jefferson County Public Library location. Children can create custom-designed, experimental artwork while learning about recycling. Tickets are required and are available free at each library. Info: jefferson.lib.co.us.

TODAY

School to get “Green Makeover:” Earth Day Network has chosen Ellis Elementary School, 1651 S. Dahlia St., to receive a “Green Makeover.” JPMorgan Chase and community volunteers will carry out most of the work for the makeover throughout the day. From 1 to 3 p.m., students will take part in an Earth Day Fair, which is open to the public. They will partner with community organizations to educate each other and the larger community about environmental issues and the changes being made at the school. For information or to volunteer, contact Amelia Kissick at Earth Day Network, 202-518-0044 or kissick@earthday.net.

Recycling of electronics: Denver City Council president Michael Hancock will help Metro Taxi kick off Earth Day celebrations by participating in a recycling event to raise awareness of the hazards contained in everyday electronic goods and the importance of recycling them. Metro Taxi is organizing a companywide recycling event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to dispose of goods in an environmentally conscious way. Luminous Electronics Recycling Inc. will pick up and recycle approximately 2,500 pounds of electronics, including old computers, radios and cellphones. Information: 303-807-2268.

As news of the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, unfolded last week, Pia Guerra, a 46-year-old Vancouver-based artist, felt helpless. She couldn’t bring herself to go to sleep, so she began to draw.

Police who find suspected drugs during a traffic stop or an arrest usually pause to perform a simple task: They place some of the material in a vial filled with liquid. If the liquid turns a certain color, it’s supposed to confirm the presence of cocaine, heroin or other narcotics.